Warning for this chapter: Ace is brutal. Like damn brutal. And you're all lucky! Since it's a post-dump chapter, the cliffhanger won't kill anyone for a week! Enjoy~
When they weren't planning, two days were spent with Ace in a haze. When he worked at school and when did anything else besides when he was at work. And that haze was evident in Mirio and Freckles' eyes. Kirishima, Tsu, Uraraka, they were all nervous and distracted as well, but not like the main three were. They had let Eri go. Freckles blamed himself too much. He tried and wanted to save her, but Ace and Mirio stopped him.
Ace stood by his belief things would have gotten worse if they'd acted in that moment, but it was still a regrettable outcome. They'd change the outcome and free the poor girl. Ace hoped she didn't hate him. Well, even if she did, Ace didn't do things to get thanks and pats on the back. He didn't need her to like him to fix the situation.
They would get her out whether she wanted it or not. Ace would knock her out if necessary, but they were getting her away from Overhaul. The days had him distracted about his own body as well. Would he be able to be taken apart by Chisaki? He was made of fire. Fire doesn't reform into different shapes naturally. He would reform. Fire always reforms, even though people sometimes don't want it to.
Well, he would avoid that as much as he could.
It only took those two long days for them to find the real hideout. It was the weekend, and Ace had spent the night at Nighteye's place, unable to sleep anywhere that wasn't where he needed to be. So he slept on the sofa in the back. Nighteye was nice about it, seeming to know that Ace felt terrible about what had happened and was dedicated to do anything he could to fix it.
When he woke up, Nighteye was telling him to get dressed. Ace nodded and changed into his hero costume, though he didn't have stupid sunglasses anymore, but a visor similar to Mirios, only his was dark colored and not yellow. They did everything to hide his freckles. They were an obvious trait for him even if his back tattoo and hat were not in the picture.
Ace was there already when everyone arrived. He was standing in the corner, eating a protein bar. It was stale, but the vending machines had all been empty that night. They were supposedly supposed to be refilled that day. He was glad it was happening soon. He would be out for an hour in three days. As long as the mission didn't take longer than three days, he'd be fine.
When the heroes had gathered, along with the high school students, they were shocked to find that Eri was in the stronghold. It's where Nighteye had been thinking she was all along. At the main residences of the Hassaikai.
Rock Lock was grumpy as always, and took out his frustrations on everybody else. "Then all of our investigations were for nothing?" Ace held in a sigh. This man was a grown adult, a known hero, and yet he was so childish to throw a fit when nobody else was.
"No, we were able to get new information as well," Nighteye replied. Fat Gum asked how he was able to confirm the location. If Ace hadn't seen it already, the bright girly toy box in his hand looked completely out of place. He explained that one of the Hassaikai members had gone to a store the other day and bought a bunch of toys for young girls. Ace bit down on his lip not to laugh when Fat Gum was protesting that, saying men were into all sorts of stuff and there was no concrete evidence.
Nighteye stayed calm. "No, he said something that no one else who has that sort of hobby would say-" and he told the story of how the guy had no idea what he was buying and had to ask for help.
Guess who got pissy again? That's right, Rock Lock. Getting pissy about Nighteye using his foresight anyway. The ever-responsible and calm hero said, "I believe I said I would use it once we narrowed it down so we could be sure."
Fat Gum asked that things had been decided. Cetipeder said that, thanks to the stakeouts, they knew for sure where they were to go. Bubble Girl added that they worked with the police to get a warrant."
All that was left was to go there. Ace walked to Mirio and stood next to him with his arms crossed. "You guys ready?"
They nodded and Mirio turned to Freckles. "Midoriya, Ace..." and he started waving his arms around. "Let's do this! We're gonna do this!" Ace looked around to see everyone else was watching. He sighed, as did Amajiki. He wasn't making himself look very professional. Nobody but the students were smiling. Ace had a blank, cold look of determination and focus on. He wouldn't screw up, and the pressure was on him a bit to make sure they made it through the building safely. And to Eri.
Once everyone was dressed and as prepared as they could be, they started the mission.
Soon, everyone had made their way to the police station. The main players were in the front, with the students in a line in the middle. Ace was between Mirio and Midoriya. They were both repeatedly clenching their fists. Ace took both of them. "We're going to succeed. Think of only the mission," he said softly and let their hands go, both of them seeming stoic, focused and ready. For whatever was waiting for them.
A plan this big never, ever goes smoothly. Everybody there knew it those who had done anything like this before. So everybody except the first years. They didn't have experience in anything this big.
The police informed them that they found out there were unknown government tunnels below the Hassaikai residence and they were able to find out that Eri was being kept there. She was in a room there, and Ace would find her. He would make do on the mouthed apology he gave her. They didn't know the layout of the underground, but Ace and Mirio would take care of that and easily inspect rooms and unlock doors from the inside.
They were handed out lists of the quirks they knew that the enemies had. As many as they could identify. Ace memorized them, many of them he didn't want anything to do with. He still knew so little about how quirks affected him as a whole.
"You okay?" Ace asked Mirio. The first years were trying to liven and cheer themselves up. Mirio nodded, saying he just wanted this to be over as soon as possible. So Eri didn't need to suffer anymore because they hadn't saved her. He patted his friend on the back but didn't tell him they did the right thing.
"Well, we'll get through it like every one we've done before. And no matter the outcome, we always get through it," Ace said. Mirio said that the wording wasn't exactly inspiring. Ace smiled. "I'm in pessimistic mode right now. Expect the worst so you'll be happy when it's not as bad as you thought it would be."
"That is a horrible mindset, Ace, oh my god," he said in shock. Ace just laughed.
"Heroes! Things might get a little violent. If you see even a hint of suspicious behavior or resistance, please deal with it immediately. We're up against gangsters who have survived until now. Don't let your guard down and carry out your respective tasks." The officers all saluted. The operation was to begin at 8:30. It was 8:15.
Ace walked to Nighteye, Mirio following, and asked if everything was going to plan. "We now need Ace more than before. To navigate us through the underground since there's no map for any of us to reference." Ace's palms were getting sweaty. Freckles was then next to him.
"You told us not to worry, why do you get to?" he asked with a smile. Ace smiled, too, and said he had a big role and everybody was depending on him. "You're strong enough to pull it off. You fought with All Might against the entire League of Villains!"
Ace nodded, though he didn't point out that every time he fought them, they just bounced back. He didn't need to tell them that, even though they'd all been alerted that the damn shit heads might show up. But they outnumbered the villains. Should be fine.
When they were standing outside the gates, the police officer announced that they were to rush in the moment the targets read the warrant. Rock Lock complained that the police officer always told them what to do, like they couldn't trust them. Ace honestly didn't trust this guy not to let emotions, negative ones, cloud his focus. He was already pissy before starting because Ace was important and needed to be guarded.
Everyone else was fine with him having a special role that none of them could do. Ace resisted pointing out that there was no reason to be complaining about the officer doing his damn job. And that he should shut up and be prepared to do his own. Mirio shook his head and Ace sighed, relaxing his body again and making sure his visor covered his face.
Then Ace sensed a huge presence. "Move! Away from the gate!" he screamed before a huge arm slammed through the fence. They were just barely able to get out of the way, Ace worrying that his visor had cracked. Hopefully it didn't break. Things already weren't going to plan.
Mirio said, "I see why you have that mindset!" Ace nodded, and held his hands up. He would be fist fighting, not using his powers. Though everyone was supposed to fight for him and Mirio.
The monster guy had a beak on, which might have been a mask. They all seemed to wear bird masks. "What do you want?" he asked in a deep voice, sounding bored and not worried that there were a bunch of heroes and police outside. "Bringing all these people so early in the morning."
"Hey, hey! Did they already notice us?!" Rock Lock shouted.
"Obviously!" Ace couldn't help but shout back, sick of him. "We just barely moved in time!"
"Forget about that, let's all hold them back together!" another hero said, a bit too optimistic for the situation, but everyone has their own ways of dealing with stress. The bird monster stood up and said he was a bit more awake now. The monster asked what they were there for again before pulling an arm back and thrusting it forward. Like All Might, the fist caused the air to move forward as a projectile.
Ryukyu changed instantly into her large dragon form, holding back the fist as best as she could. "Anyway, we shouldn't split up our forces now! Ryukyu agency will take care of him!" Freckles and Kirishima wished the girls good luck, since they were part of her agency. Mirio, Ace and Midoriya were from Nighteye's, so they wouldn't help with that one. "The rest of you, go in while you have a chance!"
The rest ran in, Ace not at the front yet. They didn't need his guidance. "A couple inside, but not too powerful," Ace said to Nighteye, who would be relaying what Ace said as best as he could so the villains didn't know Ace was there.
The police were holding up the warrant and shouting as they hurried forward, clearly not going to wait to let them read it. They just had to for the process' sake. The criminals of course didn't care, and were tackled while the others ran inside, Ace in the middle. Under his gloves, his fists were covered in haki. Not enough to make him tired, but enough that he'd break some bones if he punched someone.
Rock Lock said, "There was that big guy, too... Are none of them scared?" Ace resisted responding. He wanted away from this guy, but wouldn't let his personal feelings get in the way.
Finally, Ace moved to the front with Freckles and Mirio there in front of him while others were close behind. Ace was in front so he could give hand signals if necessary. "Let's do this, Midoroya! Keep Ace safe and save Eri!" Mirio said.
"Right!"
Ace wanted to save Eri, but he was letting his professional side come out. His commander side. His face was hard but relaxed, his senses keen for any sound, his observation haki armed and fists coated with armament haki. He wouldn't fuck this up a second time.
He found Overhaul almost immediately. The tunnels were large, but not big enough to be out of Ace's range. "There are many below us waiting. Chisaki is already on the move, heading toward Eri," Ace said, Nighteye relaying the information. They didn't need to know about the people rushing them, they were in plain view.
It really looked like this would not be a stealth mission. Good thing Mirio was good at fighting without even needing his quirk. He and Freckles were in front of Ace, shoving and punching enemies out of the way to make room for Ace, who wasn't paying attention to the enemies, trusting his friends, and kept count of how many people there were that were strong.
Ace wasn't paying attention to the conversations behind him, he was keeping himself watching over Chisaki and Eri. The two main targets. Not to battle either of them, but where Chisaki was was where Eri would be.
Ace stopped before the rest of them, knowing where the passage was, where Nighteye also stopped. "It's here, there's a device here to open a hidden passage."
"Be ready, there are three men waiting behind the door," Ace said, and Nighteye echoed. They all got into position before he did the combo and the door opened. It was eerie, how quiet it was down there but loud upstairs. Would any sound reach down there? Would every footstep make him wary?
But the silence lasted about half a second before shouts of "who the hell are you" and "bastards" filled the hall and echoed into the tunnels. Well, they weren't tunnels, they were hallways.
Bubble Girl and Cetipeder took care of these fodder and told them to go on ahead. Already, the group was getting smaller. Though that's what they wanted from the beginning, only they didn't want to be forced to be smaller. They ran down the stairs, Ace now near the very front, but still behind Mirio, with Midoriya close next to Ace.
"There's a wall to the left," Ace announced.
They stopped and Rock Lock asked Nighteye what his deal was, like he actually lied and knew this wall was there the whole time. "I'll go check it out," Mirio offered, taking off his helmet. "Ace?"
"All clear."
He entered the wall enough to look out the other side and confirm that there was a hallway, but that the slab of stone was pretty thick. "With Chisaki's ability to breakdown and restore things, even this is possible?" Rock Lock wondered.
Ace stayed calm, knowing they could break through the wall. Even if everyone else started to panic and worry, Ace would stay calm. He wasn't feeling like the plan was being ruined, he expected the worst. And this was not the worst. Nobody had been killed yet.
Kirishima and Freckles broke down the wall, Ace reserving his strength in case they ran into some real trouble. Chisaki was with Eri now, and moving further away. Though at a slow pace, meaning he wasn't worried a bit. He was confident in his men. That might give them trouble.
"He's moving slowly, meaning he has confidence in his people and that we won't make it far," Ace said.
"Roger," Nighteye said. Rock Lock finally said something that wasn't pissy and almost complimented the two who broke down the wall. Mirio moved back in front of Ace, "Let's continue," he said in a determined voice. "Eri is getting further away!"
"WAIT! There's someone a few halls down that just merged into the wall and is coming to us!" Ace shouted. The others were alarmed besides Nighteye, Fat Gum and Mirio. Kirishima was worried and Freckles was looking around frantically before the hallway began to warp and twist. They could barely keep their balance as the hall stretched and shrunk, moved to one side and then the other, throwing them off completely.
Even Ace couldn't keep track of the walls' movements. "It's not Chisaki! It's different. The only one it could be is the director Irinaka!"
Rock Lock shouted, "Why didn't you tell us sooner!?"
"Shut up and stop complaining! Don't distract me!" Ace shouted out in anger and irritation before calming himself. Fat Gum said his quirk was Mimic. It lets him go into objects and control them freely from within"
The police leader for the mission said, "He's gone into the concrete that makes up the underground! And it's turned into a living maze!"
Ace reminded them that he could find the way no matter what. "But it's too big scale! He shouldn't be able to enter and control objects bigger than a refrigerator!" Rock Lock said.
"If you gets a big enough boost, it's not impossible, right?" Fat Gum asked. "I was bein' careful about what he'd turn into." Everyone was off balance and being thrown around as the walls warped and stretched. They were doing well not to fall, but couldn't walk forward. Ace was not getting dizzy, luckily.
He sensed around and found that most of the underground closest to them had changed. There was no clear shot to Eri anymore. But she and Chisaki were still here. They would just take more time to find them most likely. Fat Gum said he didn't think that the guy would turn into the underground. "This has got to be hard on him physically. Eraser, you can't get rid of it?"
"Not if I can't see the main body…"
Amajiki said that if the path keeps getting changed and remade that the enemy could prepare as many escape routes as they wanted. Ace was really sick of reminding them about his haki. He knew wherever everyone was waiting for them and where Chisaki was. "Is everybody forgetting about Firefist's haki?" Mirio asked loudly. He seemed irate as well.
Amajiki was panicking, and Ace felt for him. Mirio clapped him on his shoulder after he was mumbling panicked scenarios. "That's not gonna happen," Mirio said firmly. "You're the suneater! Besides, this is just a stopgap! No matter how much they try to warp the path, as long as we know the direction of our goal, I can get there!"
He was letting his emotions and impatience cloud his judgment. The plan was that he and Ace would stick together, but he had said "I" and not "we". It bothered Ace a bit.
Mirio said he was going ahead, and would find Eri. Ace grew angry. "That's not part of the plan!" he shouted. Mirio turned and said the original plan wasn't working. They weren't sneaking, everybody knew.
Ace turned to Nighteye. "What do I do?" he asked.
Nigteye only thought for a second. "Go. Find Eri with Mirio. We're stuck here for now. The walls might warp and you won't be able to reach him again. You might be the only one that can survive Overhaul's power. Ace bit his lip but nodded. "Be careful! There are at least twelve enemies awaiting us! Three are right beneath us!"
Ace ran to where Mirio was waiting and smashed a hole into the thick wall, but it was a small hole since it was so thick. Mirio pulled him through with Ace turning into fire. They had gotten quicker at that and it wasted no time. Ace was still unknown; he hadn't used his fire powers. Hopefully him predicting wouldn't give him away.
"You shouldn't run off like this without saying something. You can't let emotions get to you, Lemillion. It will cloud your judgment," Ace scolded lightly. Mirio said nothing but frowned. "To the left and then right. There's an open path that way," Ace said quietly. Mirio nodded and they both turned the directions, ignoring the walls put up to slow them.
The ceiling collapsed on top of them, more like it was slammed down on them, and Ace just barely made it out, jumping and rolling to get out from under it. "Lemillion, you okay?" he called but Mirio walked right out of it.
"That was close," he said. They barely rested from that and continued running, following the path to Eri. But the walls continued to twist around them, and they turned in wonky directions, throwing them both off.
"Damn it," Ace swore. "We'll just break through and go forward," Ace decided, and covered his fists in haki before he punched through walls and into rooms that were empty, or other hallways thate headed in a different direction. "We'll keep throwing this guy off and ignore his meddling!"
"Right!" Mirio agreed.
Ace's fists, of course, didn't get tired, and he and Mirio were making it pretty far in. The villains were unable to follow them since they kept going through walls that warped right after they left. They were scattered more with the guy warping the surroundings messing them up as well. Ace could tell Mirio knew this, too, and neither said anything.
Soon, though, the warping ended. "He left. He must be going back to the others or ran out of power. Though I felt him move away."
"Meaning it's more likely he left us for another group than running out of power." Ace nodded. "We have an easier time going now, then." Ace pointed out that it would also be easy for any enemies to find them in the parts that weren't warped. "That's true. We're getting Eri no matter what."
Ace agreed, saying, "We'll fix our mistake," in a strong voice. "And never make that kind of mistake again." Mirio nodded firmly. When they were at one wall, Ace slammed his arm into Mirio's chest before he went through it. Ace put his finger in front of his mouth, held two fingers up, a thumbs down and a new sign for the League of Villains, and L and V shaped with his fingers.
Mirio nodded and both of them stayed as still and quiet as they could. The two didn't know they were there. Of course not, all of the walls were very thick and the sound wouldn't escape easily. He waited for them to be long gone before poking a hole in the wall with his hand that was quieter, with Mirio pulling him through.
Ace found a hallway in the direction that he felt Chisaki going. He ran to the left, Mirio following him as they tried to get to Eri as quickly as possible, hoping to avoid all villains. None so far but the wall-guy who had left them and no doubt was running out power by now.
Then Ace felt his presence erupt and the whole place shake. Neither of them stopped running. It was clear even without haki that the power right now was angry and desperate. Damn, how fucking big was this place? It felt like they'd been running miles. But he knew they were getting closer and closer. Overhaul was still walking leisurely, not expecting anyone to get to him.
Well, he probably didn't expect pretty much expert infiltrators to come and then go off on their own.
"They're around that corner," Ace said quietly. Both of them stood in front of Chisaki and a bird man holding Eri. They were so close! Mirio was sweating but Ace wasn't tired at all. Ace let Mirio do the talking for now.
"Excuse me, but can I ask you some questions?" he asked with a deep frown. The villains had stopped in front of them and were no longer walking.
Chisaki said, "You shouldn't have gotten here so fast." Ace said nothing, though it was him who had made them get there so fast. Mirio said they had taken a short cut. Chisaki looked at Ace closely. Had he heard Ace's warning around the corner? Was he too loud, or was he just smart and thought he might be Ace. "You're Firefist, aren't you?" he asked in a bored voice.
Ace would have used to make a witty response while taking off his mask, saying something like, "Well, now I don't need to use this crappy mask anymore." But he didn't. He took it off anyway though and dropped it on the floor, showing his full face now. The bird man was instantly on guard.
"Working with heroes again?" Ace didn't respond.
Mirio said, "We're here to rescue that girl." The young master closed his eyes and asked that, now that they know the situation, they were acting like heroes, putting on their hero masks, Mr. Student.
"Back then, you were pretending not to see, weren't you?" he asked Mirio. But Ace was the one to respond this time.
Ace said, "We saw everything."
"Then you saw that this girl doesn't want you to rescue you. To her, you're not a hero," he said in a bored voice. Ace replied again.
"Eri was protecting us. You took off your glove to show her you were about to use your power on us. She didn't want that and left to protect us. We aren't stupid," Ace said in a dark voice. He just barely saw Chisaki's eyes narrow. Ace knew he was right, but this just confirmed it more.
"That's why we're here. To rescue her and make up for our mistakes," Mirio said forcefully. Chisaki said he wasn't getting through to them.
"Let me make this simpler. I'm telling you to die," Chisaki said and turned around to walk away. Mirio was about to run after them and Ace told him to control his emotions, even though Ace went, too.
Suddenly Mirio fell to the side, and Ace assumed it was a quirk making him dizzy. Ace wasn't and continued moving, sensing the guy above who was somehow hiding his presence, high enough that both were focused on Overhaul and his bodyguard. The guy above was drinking sake it seemed and Ace jumped up, perfectly balanced, and punched him hard in the gut. The guy fell and Ace stomped on his face, crushing him.
"We're taking back Eri!" Ace roared. Mirio looked a little horrified, and Ace told him that drastic time calls for drastic measures. "I'm not going to hold back so prepare for more, Lemillion," he warned seriously. The blonde's face hardened and he nodded as they ran forward, shocking the other birdman and making Chisaki's eyes widen slightly.
"Move, bullet to the right!" Ace said, and Mirio moved just in time. When Ace sensed a quirk from the other guy, directed at Mirio and getting him to answer a question, Ace sprang forward and thrusted a haki covered hand into his mouth and pulled down to break his jaw open and rip out some teeth. If Mirio were alone, he'd be fucked with these quirks.
"I won't give an ounce of mercy, villain. Now your quirk is useless," Ace growled and threw him against the wall, leaving a large crater. "How does it feel to be the one who loses the quirk?" he hissed. He couldn't help it, and hoped Mirio wouldn't be afraid of him after this. If Eri was, then that was that. He'd make sure Mirio got her and he'd protect them.
"Lemillion, we're going!" Ace said, taking the lead unlike he usually did with his partner. They both sprinted forward and now the guard next to Chisaki and the villain leader himself were running. Eri was looking over her shoulder and looked at Ace fearfully. He had blood all over his hand and arm from ripping the jaw apart. And he probably looked very scary.
"I'm going to leave Eri to you, she's scared of me now. I'll protect us and you'll be back up," Ace said, with Mirio nodding and agreeing to that plan.
But the guy punched in the gut came after them, and Mirio got him, sliding into the wall and then being shot back out, thrusting his arm in front of the guy's neck and making him choke. It was a brutal move, but it didn't kill him. The broken bird man was whimpering, as he couldn't speak anymore and use his quirk. The guy was sturdy, it seemed and the other man was shakily standing up despite the pain. Ace continued forward while he knew Mirio could take both of them.
"Ace! Down for count distraction!" Mirio shouted.
"Roger!"
Ace continued forward, and was able to grab Overhaul's arm while Mirio got behind him. But Overhaul was focusing on Ace with his glove off, and used his power against Ace, blowing him apart into flames. During that instance, Mirio got Eri away while Ace started to reform. It was slow though, but he wasn't dead.
Overhaul wasn't looking, thinking he'd blown Ace apart and was now facing Mirio, who was holding Eri after a successful distraction. That plan, "down for count distraction" was when Mirio would enter the ground and go behind the enemy while Ace would distract them in some way. It almost always worked.
"Why? You can't be here. He'll kill you!" Eri said quietly. Ace was still reforming slowly. Mirio had to last until he could help again. He knew he could.
"I will never make you sad anymore," he said. "It's alright. I will become your hero!"
Ace wasn't upset that he wasn't counted as the hero anymore. With what she'd seen him do just now, it would frighten any child. He didn't care as long as they got her to safety.
Overhaul was angry, as Mirio had gotten a cut on him. He called it filthy. Ace was still reforming. He'd been blown apart all over the hall. The villain thought too highly of his quirk, that nobody could beat it. "Come back, Eri. Kill? How many times do I have to tell you? You break people, that's how you were born."
Ace finally reformed and grabbed Chisaki's arm, yanking it back. "You think too highly of your power, Chisaki!" To say the two villains were surprised was an understatement. "You can't break fire!"
He couldn't let himself be blown apart again, it had taken two minutes. An important two minutes. He used his other hand to go for Ace's arm, and so he ended up letting it go, jumping back. He threw a fire fist at him, making Eri scream and Mirio assure her they were fine. But the villain jumped out of the way.
He was talking despite this. He was saying horrible things to Eri, that she was the fault of everything bad happening. She broke people and killed them. That she was cursed. And Eri was looking very upset by it, by the mind games. Chisaki took another swipe at Ace, who dodged and lifted his leg up. He grabbed the leg and burst it. But just like he had taught Freckles, reaction time was precious, and he used his other leg to kick his head, breaking his precious mask.
He was livid at this. And Ace noticed he grew weaker with each burst. "Lemillion, hold on move on!" Meaning Ace was having trouble but that Mirio should keep going. But then Chisaki took precious seconds of Ace's leg reforming, quicker than his entire upper half, and destroyed the ground and then reformed it into spikes. They both went right through Ace and Mirio, and luckily Eri was unhurt.
"He doesn't care Eri was here!" Mirio said angrily. In disbelief. Ace wasn't surprised, scum like him didn't care about anybody else, and his power would allow him to restore her, which he then explained. Why do villains monologue? It didn't sense to him. Why they explained things to their enemies. Why they wasted time and information.
"Lemillion, control your emotions!" Ace shouted and moved through the spikes as fire. "You can't fight at full strength if you fight with anger!" he insisted. He got to the front of the two, though it wouldn't make much different with the spikes. Just Eri needed to be protected.
"What will you do if Eri gets hurt? Under these conditions, I'm the only one here that can heal her," Chisaki pointed out. He was controlling his emotions and Mirio needed to match that. "I've sealed off your escape." Ace was letting him talk and give away information instead of throwing more fire at him. "You won't be able to run away using that power if you're holding Eri. Are you going to fight me? Mr. Student."
He was going after Mirio with his words, trying to rile him up since he could tell Ace was fully in control. Let him talk, let him explain, but don't let him get control of you! Mirio, you should know that by now!
The guy that Lemillion had kicked in the face stood up and pointed his gun at Mirio. They planned on destroying the floor and going for Mirio's arm that was carrying Eri. When the gun was shot, Ace formed his hand into haki and caught the three bullets, them denting against his palm. "What?!" the current bird man called. Ace hadn't remembered any of their names. But they didn't matter.
"Who said I only use fire?" Ace growled. "Don't be sloppy, Lemillion. You're letting their words rile you up! We're here to get Eri, not defeat him!"
"Right!" Mirio said strongly, and took a deep breath. Ace didn't know if he could maintain his cool in this situation, but he had to. Mirio used the screen of shards to go into the ground and pop up behind them and attempted to uppercut him, but Overhaul noticed and warned him, just barely letting the bird man in white dodge. His gun was taken away.
Overhaul saw Eri in the cape and was about to do something before Ace was there with Eri in his arms and Mirio coming after him from behind. "That's the kind of guy you are, right! A hero puts on his cape so he can use it to wrap up a hurting girl who's suffering and in pain!" Mirio shouted when he used his move that bypassed the hand guarding and hit the face directly, throwing Overhaul onto the ground hard. He sounded angry, but was back in control. Good.
Mirio was sinking into the ground and Overhaul was about to destroy it and Ace couldn't stop him with Eri in his arms, and he wouldn't put her down in case the ground imploded again. Mirio had to work this on his own. He was equal to a pro-hero. He punched his face again, unharmed and fast enough to not let Overhaul destroy the ground. "I won't let you lay another finger on her! I'll take you both down at once! You've lost, Chisaki!"
He was on his own, Ace was now the guard. Mirio was strong enough to do this on his own. Ace trusted him and he trusted Ace to protect Eri.
Eri's eyes widened. "He's a cool hero, isn't he?" Ace asked quietly.
"Don't say my name so casually. I've already thrown that name away! Shoot!" and he tossed the case of anti-quirk bullets. He was pointing it at Mirio, and Ace put her down to stop him, only he was too engaged in the fight to notice in time that the bird man was now pointing the gun at Eri to get Mirio there.
Ace pivoted and jumped in front of the bullet, solid, so it didn't go through him and into Mirio. He would never let his friend lose his quirk. "Damn it! That was the only bullet!"
"Ace!" Mirio shouted.
Suddenly everything went blurry. Ace's eyes crossed, and he started to get hot. Uncomfortably hot. "Get away!" Ace screamed before he turned into flames, all over his body and surrounding him, making things harder to see. The flames got higher until they licked the ceiling, turning blue and actually melting the stone around him. The walls, ceiling and floor.
It was too hot, he couldn't control it. And it was incredibly painful. He started screaming as it burned away his skin, his own fire rebelling against him. Waves of heat started to emanate from the now pillar of dark blue flames that soon turned to black.
"ACE!" Mirio shouted in horror and fear, though he was now behind multiple spikes. Ace couldn't even see his face as the flames consumed him, burning his body away. The waves of heat fried the bird man, the anti-quirk bullets, and severely burned Chisaki, melting the front of him and his face. He screamed in agony, but didn't die.
Ace tried to move his arms to use his flames one more time against the villain to save his friend before they disappeared and the only thing left was a flame the size of a candle flame. The last thing he heard through the fire and screaming was Mirio calling his name, clearly having tears in his eyes. "No!"
And Ace could see and hear no more. He was gone, the only thing left was the tiny flame. The only thing that proved he'd been there in the first place.
